


untitled.

by siriusdamage



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blaine Anderson Has Issues, Canon Compliant, Crying, Depressed Blaine Anderson, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, For the most part, Gen, Hurt Blaine Anderson, Hurt Marley Rose, Hurt/Comfort, ITS SOFT BLAINE AND MARLEY I SWEAR, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Eating Disorders, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Injury, M/M, Mentioned Cooper Anderson, Mentioned Emma Pillsbury, Mentioned Nick the Warbler (Glee), Mentioned Tina Cohen-Chang, Minor Injuries, Past Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Post-Episode: s04e09 Swan Song, Sad with a Happy Ending, Scars, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, and only one line, but its a happy ending, but its just an attempt, just bad shit all around, this is mostly about marley dont be fooled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriusdamage/pseuds/siriusdamage
Summary: After the New Directions' loss at sectionals, Blaine notices some changes in Marley and confronts her about it. He finds out some things about her he never could have imagined.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson & Marley Rose, Blaine Anderson/Sam Evans, Jake Puckerman/Marley Rose
Comments: 5
Kudos: 69





	untitled.

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE read the tags!! 
> 
> marley might be a little ooc, sorry! me n my gf ([amysantiagos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amysantiagos/pseuds/amysantiagos)) came up with this angst idea for marley and so i wrote it,,, might write more with the same kind of idea at some point
> 
> If you're struggling with anything mentioned in this fic, you can find a list of suicide hotlines [here](http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html), a crisis text line [here](https://www.crisistextline.org/) and a list of eating disorder hotlines with information [here.](https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/related/eating-disorder-hotlines/) Stay safe!

Blaine watched Marley. 

Not in a creepy way. They were friends and he admired her. Plus, she was young and talented and Blaine was intrigued by her, there seemed to be a lot he could learn from her. She was new at McKinley this year and Blaine was glad he was able to get to know her. She was sweet towards everyone and always had a smile on her face. She’d always strive for the solo in Glee Club and was enthusiastic about group numbers. He noticed how she was always able to cheer her friends up. Whenever Ryder or Unique was having a bad day, she was always quick to put a smile on their face. 

But after their loss at Sectionals, things changed. 

Marley was different, sadder. Jake didn’t sit with her in Glee Club anymore. She sat in the corner quietly next to Ryder. She still sang in group numbers, but she didn’t do solos unless she was specifically asked by Mr. Schue. 

Somehow, things got even worse with time. She was tired all the time, withdrawn from conversations. She turned down solos and barely sang in group numbers. She turned down outings with Jake or Ryder or Unique. Blaine even invited her out with him and Sam, but she declined. Her bright smile and the way she lit up the room, it was gone. The light in her eyes was snuffed out like a candle. Not just dimmed, it was gone. Left with no trace. 

But more significantly, at least to Blaine, Marley was dressing differently. She’d stopped putting as much effort into her appearance. But more concerningly, she always wore long sleeves. Sweaters, cardigans, shirts, dresses, all with long sleeves. It wouldn’t be as concerning if she didn’t wear them on the warmer days, if she didn’t wear a sweater during gym class and dance rehearsals, or if she didn’t scratch at her arms through the fabric. 

Blaine knew what that meant. Blaine knew the long sleeves pulled over her hands weren’t just for warding off the cold. He knew why she scratched at her skin, why she did it through the fabric and didn’t just pull up her sleeves to do it. He recognized the habits because he used to partake in them, too. 

After a few weeks of that happening, Blaine watching Marley destroy herself like this, he had to do something. He knew Marley’s schedule; he knew she had history class with Ryder 3rd period before her lunch, the same time Blaine had a math class in the next hallway. Blaine made sure to get out of class as soon as he could that day so he could catch up with Marley before she disappeared for her lunch. He told Sam and Tina to have lunch without him. 

She was the first one out of her class, walking quickly down the hall. Normally, she would be with Ryder. She wasn’t today. She was alone, barely carrying her heavy bag over her shoulder. Marley spotted Blaine walking towards her and turned around, rolling her eyes. 

“Marley, wait up!” Blaine called out, jogging to catch up with her. 

“What do you want, Blaine?” Marley sighed. Her voice was low, tired, weak. “I have to get to class.”

“No, you don’t.” The words came out harsher than Blaine wanted them too. “I mean, I know you have fourth-period lunch. I do too, remember? We used to have lunch together. Me, you, Ryder, Tina, and Sam.” 

“Yeah, I remember.” Marley started walking faster, clearly trying to get away from Blaine. She seemed angry. She was defensive. Blaine understood why; she didn’t want anyone knowing what was going on. “If you want me to go have lunch with you guys, it’s not gonna happen.” 

“I just want to talk to you, Marley,” Blaine grabbed her arm, careful not to grab too tight. He didn’t want to hurt her, and he especially didn’t want to reopen any old wounds. He knew how much that hurt. “Just, come on, we can go to the choir room. I just want to have a conversation.” 

Marley stopped walking along with Blaine. “Fine.” 

“I swear, I’ll be nice.” Blaine smiled at her, letting go of her arm and instead, reaching out a hand for her to take. “Come on. I won’t bite.” 

Marley reluctantly took Blaine’s hand, letting him lead her to the choir room. He let go of her hand to unlock the door, opening it up and leading her inside. He slipped his bag off of his shoulder, dropping it on top of the piano. 

“How did you get the key to this room?” Marley asked. 

“Oh, uh, Mr. Schue gave me a key,” Blaine explained. He pulled two chairs from a stack and set them down for him and Marley, sitting down in one of them. “It’s a good place to calm down when things get to be too much. Y’know, somewhere to chill out on the bad days. And I help clean up the room in return. Don’t tell anyone, though. He wasn’t even technically supposed to give it to me.” 

Blaine gestured for Marley to sit down. She pulled the chair a little bit further from Blaine and sat down. 

“What did you want to talk about?” She asked. 

“You.” He said. Blaine shook his head, realizing he should probably elaborate a bit more than just that. “Just, you’ve been acting different. I’m worried about you, Marley.” 

“I’m fine,” Marley said, clearly lying. Anyone could see that. “You don’t have to be worried.” 

“Marley, you collapsed on stage. You’ve been withdrawn, you haven’t been singing, you haven’t had lunch with us in over a month,” Blaine rattled on. “Tell me if I’m wrong, but that doesn't sound like fine, Marley.” 

“I’m fine. I’ve just been… tired.” Marley lied.

Blaine sighed. It was an excuse he’s heard a lot and an excuse he’s given a lot. “Marley, we both know that’s not true.” Blaine took a deep breath. He hated having to ask this, for both of their sakes. “You can correct me if I’m wrong, by all means, but I just have to ask this because it’ll kill me if I don’t. Please don’t be offended, but have you been hurting yourself?” 

Marley froze and her eyes widened in shock. She looked down at her wrists, which sat in her lap, and started to pull her sleeves down. She stood up and started walking towards the door before Blaine called out for her to wait. 

“What?” She barked, throwing her arms out. “What are you going to accuse me of? How would you even know that?” 

“Your sleeve is riding up.”

Marley quickly pulled the sleeve of her cardigan down. “I was helping my mom in the kitchen. I accidentally cut myself.”

“Six times?”

“I have to go.” Marley turned back around, reaching for the door.

Then, as calm and cool as he could, Blaine said, “I do the same thing.”

Marley stopped, frozen in place, with her hand hovering above the door handle. She turned around. She looked sad, but not for herself. 

“What?” She said, voice quiet and meek.

Blaine sighed deeply. “I don’t anymore, I used to.” Marley seemed to be calmer now, though Blaine could tell she wasn’t going to talk about herself yet, so he did. “I started when I was 12. I came out to my dad and he was… less than supportive. I wasn’t doing great before that happened, and I had heard about people cutting as a coping thing so, I tried it.” Blaine shook his head, scoffing at his past self. “If there’s one thing I regret, it’s that first time I did it. If I could stop myself from doing that, I would. It’s addictive, you know. It’s hard to do it just once.” Marley walked over and sat on the chair, listening to Blaine. She didn’t say anything, just listened. She knew Blaine wouldn’t tell this so just anyone, so if he was telling her, she was going to listen. “It went on for years. Anything happened with school or bullies or my dad or my brother, it was my solution. It didn’t get better until I was 14 and I transferred to Dalton. I was away from my dad, Cooper had moved out anyway so I didn’t have to worry about him, and nobody bullied me there. I eventually made friends I was close enough with to tell about what I had been going through and it was good to not have to hide it as much. My friend, Nick, even helped me get some help.” Marley had never actually gotten professional help for anything, the most she’d gotten was a trip to Miss Pillsbury’s office and being given a pamphlet on things she’d already known about. Her mother could never afford a real therapist. “I was clean for almost three years. And then me and Kurt broke up.” Marley nodded along. She didn’t know much about their breakup or Kurt really at all. “I cheated on him. It was probably the worst I’d ever felt. I hurt him. The one person who I loved more than anything, I had hurt him. And I just… I needed a way to deal with that.” Blaine sniffled. Marley hadn’t noticed he was starting to tear up. “It was the only thing I knew so I started again. It was all so much. I didn’t know what else to do.” 

“But you said you didn’t do it anymore.” Marley finally spoke up, still quiet. 

Blaine moved to unbutton the cuffs of his shirt, rolling up his sleeves and then taking off his watch. His arms were littered with scars. Some were flat and aged, thin and light. There were more that were raised and pinkish, from either newer or deeper wounds. Most of them were further down his arms. Easier to cover up, Marley supposed. But then, there was another, larger, white scar that sat diagonally at the top of his wrist where his watch was covering. It looked like it had been stitched up. Marley chose not to point it out. 

“It’s been five months,” He said. “Sam found out about two months after I started again. I was changing bandages after a show in the locker rooms. I thought I was the only one there, but he saw me. He helped me recover, Tina did too.” Blaine ran a thumb over his scars, feeling the rise and fall of the bumps on his skin. “I’m doing better now, of course. I talked to Kurt on Thanksgiving and saw him at Christmas, things are good between us. Sam is a better boyfriend than Kurt ever was and I’m happy with him. It’s definitely an improvement.”

“I… I had no idea, Blaine.” Marley was still staring down at his scars with sad eyes. “Who else knows?” 

“You, Sam, Tina, Kurt, Nick, and David. I think my mom has her suspicions, but I haven’t actually told her.” Blaine began rolling his sleeves down. “And I wouldn’t expect you to know, Marley. I hide it well. You don’t.” Marley’s eyes widened. “At least not to me. I know what to look for, and it’s all there, Marley.” 

Marley looked like she was about to cry. 

“You don’t have to talk about it, I just want to help.” Blaine finished rolling down his sleeves, buttoning them up. 

“I do,” Marley said. She looked just as sad as before, but now she was calmer. “I just don’t know where to start.”

“Why don’t you tell me how long you’ve been doing this?” 

“Not long.” She pulled down her sleeves instinctively, before realizing she didn’t have to. It was just her and Blaine in the room. She didn’t pull them up, though. She wasn’t ready for that. “Just since after Sectionals.” Marley was starting to tear up. “It was so much, I just needed a release. Just pain and guilt and loneliness…” Marley sniffled, wiping away the tears that fell with her sleeve. “It was like I’d already hit rock bottom but I was still falling. Like, I was screaming at the top of my lungs but no one was listening. And I guess at some point i just,” She glanced down at her wrists. “Stopped screaming.” More tears threatened to fall down Marley’s cheeks, but she blinked them back, trying to stop them. “It just felt like—feels like—I deserve this.” 

Blaine reached out and took Marley’s hand in his. “You don’t, Marley. I know that probably doesn’t meain much right now, but it’s true. You are so kind and you have such a good heart. Nobody deserves to feel like this, least of all you.” Marley didn’t meet Blaine’s eyes, just stared down blankly at her lap where her wrists sat. “Look at me, Marley,” Blaine said, and she listened. Her tear-filled eyes met his gaze. “You’re going to be okay. You’re going to get through this. I promise.” 

Marley sniffled. “How do you know that?” 

“Because I’m going to help you,” Blaine gave Marley a smile. “I’ll help you in every way I can. And if you want, you’ve got Sam and Tina on your side too. I’m sure Ryder and Unique would be willing to help you, too.” 

“I don’t know, Blaine.”

“Marley, it’s okay.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “I can even help get you professional help. And don’t even worry about the money, I’m basically a professional at spending my dad’s money on things he would never buy.”

Blaine almost fell backwards in his chair when Marley practically tackled him with a hug. He hugged her back, smiling. 

“Thank you.” She said, still sniffling. 

“You’re very welcome,” He replied as she pulled back from the hug. “I know everything isn’t going to get better right away. I’m not expecting it to, you just have to give it some time. It takes a little patience.” 

Marley nodded. “I just don’t want to feel like this anymore. If I can get better, I want to. I don’t care how long it takes.” 

Blaine glanced at the clock. “Well,” He began, standing up and reaching for his bag. “I have to go, otherwise I won’t have enough time to see my boyfriend and eat my lunch.” He extended an arm out to Marley. “Care to join?” 

She stood up and linked her arm with his, finally wearing a smile. 

“I’d love to.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you're struggling with anything mentioned in this fic, you can find a list of suicide hotlines [here](http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html), a crisis text line [here](https://www.crisistextline.org/) and a list of eating disorder hotlines with information [here.](https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/related/eating-disorder-hotlines/) Stay safe!


End file.
